Project Strain
by anywhat
Summary: Amon may be dead, but the Equalists still fight for what they believe in. However, their weapons are not limited to gloves and tanks.
1. Shopping

Korra leaned against a stand of sweets as she waited for Pema to check out. The groceries for the week were sitting in a cart as the two women waited for their turn with the cashier.

"Oh dear, Korra. I seem to have left my purse in the car. Would you be a dear and get it for me?" Pema asked the young Avatar.

"Sure thing," Korra answered and walked out of the store. On the way to the car, she noticed a young boy holding a sign where an alley let out.

**WILL WORK FOR FOOD **was scrawled out in black ink. Korra couldn't help but stop.

"You're a bit young to go to work, aren't you?" Korra asked not unkindly. The sallow-faced boy looked at her mournfully.

"Can't be helped," he answered in a hoarse, whispery voice. "Pa's ill. Ma's got the others."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Korra answered, her heart breaking for the young boy. "Say, would you help me load up the groceries? There might be a yuong in it or two."

The boy gave her a weak smile and followed her to the car and back to the store. The cashier was just starting with their groceries.

"And who might this young man be?" Pema asked with a surprised smile as Korra handed her her purse. Korra allowed the boy to introduce himself.

"Halfjack," the boy said, grabbing armfuls of groceries along with Korra.

"He's helping me load," Korra explained as she walked out.

"How sweet," Pema said as she paid. There were a lot of groceries.

When the goods were all in the car, Korra dug out five yuongs and handed them to Halfjack. "Here you go. Hope you find better luck," she said as she waved him off.

"Thanks ma'am," the boy said as he walked back to his sign. Korra's smile fell into a frown as she saw him off.

"Hearbreaking, isn't it?" Pema asked. "What's his story?"

"Dad's sick. Mom's busy. It's all up to him," Korra answered sadly as she got into the passenger seat.

"I keep hearing about that illness. Have they come up with a name for it yet?" Pema asked.

"No, not yet. It's so strange. Maybe a strain of the flu?" Korra wondered.

"I hope it passes quickly, for his sake," Pema mused as she drove. Korra silently agreed.


	2. Discovery

Janel dodged behind the corner. She could faintly hear the footsteps of two men in heavy boots. Holding her breath, she waited until they passed then resumed dashing down the hall. There were so many doors, but she wasn't interested. Not now.

Finally, Janel found the door she was here for. 23A. The same number she had found in her father's briefcase.

She still remembered the last conversation she had had with her father.

"Dad, what are these?" she had asked, her hands full of papers. She thought she knew what they were, she made a hobby of studying her father's work, but she wanted to hear him.

"Oh, just a study I'm doing for work," her father had answered, grinning easily. "But let's put that nonsense aside. Come have dinner with me."

Janel didn't know how to approach her father. "Dad, I couldn't help but notice the DNA sequence in this strain was different than what I've seen be-"

"Oh yes, you noticed? Yes, that's a rare strain from the far western nations. We just got a small sample, but it really is fascinating. But that's for another time. What have you been up to today?"

Janel rattled off her daily activities, her mind spinning. She knew her father was in the dark about her advanced knowledge of his study. The paper had been a map of a relatively common virus, the Glade Flu, but it had also had several diagrams of subtle changes of DNA. So why had her father lied?

"I think I might retire for the night. I'm not feeling well," she excused herself.

Her father's eyes immediately filled with concern. "Migraine?" Janel nodded mutely. "Oh honey, I'm sorry. You just go off to bed now. We'll talk more in the morning."

Janel offered a weak smile and headed off to her room. Before she went to bed, she took out a book on the flu in question, one of the many she had hidden under her bed. She found the flu, the one she had seen on the paper, relatively quickly. She tried to find any versions that might account for the DNA splices she could remember, but there was no luck. She resolved to check her father's room after he left for work in the morning before calling it a night.

Janel woke up to silence. No smell, no sounds. Her nerves were immediately put on edge. She quietly grabbed the dagger she kept under her pillow and snuck into the hall with silent feet. The house looked fine, nothing disturbed. At least, that was the impression she had until she reached her father's room.

The door hung askew on one hinge. Upon entering, she found books all over the floor, half open and on their sides. Papers had been flung around like confetti, and the desk was all but smashed. Fear leapt to her heart, but she kept her nerve. She didn't remember her father having so many books in his room. Leaning down to pick on up, she gasped. The title read _The Genetics of Benders and Nonbenders Alike. _A quick glance around showed several more books on the topic. Janel's hands started to shake.

What had her father been doing?

She looked down at the papers that littered the floor. A stack of them had a logo on the top corner she had seen before, but nonetheless chilled her to the bone. It was the equalist symbol. She nearly dropped the papers.

Get a hold of yourself, she chastised herself roughly. She took a closer look at the papers. They were delivery forms and time cards, mostly useless. But they had one important feature: an address.

Janel's eyes squinted in frustration as she saw the keypad. She needed a code, but she had none. She daren't try anything she wasn't sure about, as that might set off an alarm. She made a fist as she thought. Suddenly she heard her father's voice.

"Dad, why is our address so different from our neighbors?" she had asked when they first looked at their new house. On the left, the house was Gardner Lane, 2456. On the right, the address read 9956. But theirs was 3641.

"This is a special town, honey," he'd replied, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Special people, special houses. Pretty fancy, huh? Just never forget that number."

She never had, and now she took a chance. 3641. The light above the pad clicked green and the door swished open. Janel felt her heart leap, but kept her face schooled. Creeping in the room with light footsteps, she took stock of her surroundings. A large chalkboard took up one complete wall, filled with formulas and equations that even for her seemed advanced. She could have spent hours staring at it, but she forced herself to move on.

A huge desk took up a corner, covered with a smattering of papers. The heading on one took her breath away.

**Bender Strain**

Her eyes flashed around the papers, words leaping out at her. Deadly. Slow. Sleep. Air-born. Dr. Gamiki.

Shouts broke her out of her daze. "Gamiki's lab was opened," a man's voice said. Janel snapped into action, stuffing several papers into her long coat at random. Dashing out of the room, she slipped behind a corner just as several men armed with electric gloves marched a double pace into the room.

"Search the building," a man ordered, his voice hard. "Don't let them escape."

Janel did just that.


End file.
